Dry cleaning is a clothes cleaning process by soaking them in a solvent known as tetrachloroethylene. This method of cleaning is suitable for fabrics that are delicate in nature and easily degrade when water is used as a solvent for cleaning. Business attire is often sent to dry cleaners in order to be cleaned effectively while maintaining their freshness. However, deciding when the formal suits need to get dry cleaned can be a challenging task. Given below are a few tips to help you decide how often you should dry clean your business clothes:
- Try cleaning with a brush at home
The first stage in cleaning business attire is to use a soft brush and air it out. This helps remove the unpleasant odor and helps give the clothes a refreshed and clean look. If the business suit retains a distinct odor even after the first stage of cleaning, this is a sign that it needs to be sent to the dry cleaner.
- Look at how often the apparel is worn
The number of visits to the dry cleaner depends on how often a suit is worn and how frequently it is exposed to the outside dusty and smoky environment. For example, an architect who wears a suit out in the field on a regular basis may need to visit the dry cleaners more frequently than a computer scientist who wears it once a month in air conditioned rooms.
- Stains on the apparel
Another reason to send your formal suits for dry cleaning is when something has been spilled on them leaving behind stains that cannot be treated at home with the usual detergents used for the everyday laundry tasks.
- Dry clean once in every season
As a general rule, business apparel should be dry cleaned at least once every season, if not more. Even if the business suit is not being used, dry cleaning it once each season helps maintain its freshness and prevent it from developing an unpleasant odor that exists when storage items have not been used over a long period of time.
- Avoid frequent dry cleaning as dry cleaning uses harsh chemicals
Another important factor to consider when sending such clothes to the dry cleaners is the chemicals they use. Using too much of it too often might be damaging to the clothes as well. A strong concentration of the chemicals can cause the fibers to breakdown which in turn distorts the overall shape of the suit. Therefore, it is essential to avoid frequent trips to the dry cleaner. It is better to be cautious and careful with spills than to send off your coats and formal skirts to the cleaners every week.
To conclude, there is no fixed number of times for how often you should dry clean your business apparel. The choice of dry cleaning depends on a combination of different factors such as dark stains and how frequently the attire is worn. We hope that these tips help you decide whether or not your business attire needs dry cleaning.